SCRIPTURE: Song of Solomon 1
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
I thought that this book deserves a special reflection.
Here is an outline and summary of the Song of Solomon, taken from gotquestions.org.
The poetry takes the form of a dialogue between a husband (the king) and his wife (the Shulamite). We can divide the book into three sections: the courtship (1:1 – 3:5); the wedding (3:6 – 5:1); and the maturing marriage (5:2 – 8:14).
The song begins before the wedding, as the bride-to-be longs to be with her betrothed, and she looks forward to his intimate caresses. However, she advises letting love develop naturally, in its own time. The king praises the Shulamite’s beauty, overcoming her feelings of insecurity about her appearance. The Shulamite has a dream in which she loses Solomon and searches throughout the city for him. With the help of the city guards, she finds her beloved and clings to him, taking him to a safe place. Upon waking, she repeats her injunction not to force love.
On the wedding night, the husband again praises the beauty of his wife, and in highly symbolic language, the wife invites her spouse to partake of all she has to offer. They make love, and God blesses their union.
As the marriage matures, the husband and wife go through a difficult time, symbolized in another dream. In this second dream, the Shulamite rebuffs her husband, and he leaves. Overcome with guilt, she searches the city for him; but this time, instead of helping her, the guards beat her—symbolic of her pained conscience. Things end happily as the lovers reunite and are reconciled.
As the song ends, both the husband and wife are confident and secure in their love, they sing of the lasting nature of true love, and they yearn to be in each other’s presence.
Some people see this book as an allegory, a symbolic description of the relationship between God and His people (see Ephesians 5:25-33].
More naturally, the book celebrates a healthy part of God’s creation order – the gift of the marriage covenant.
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding [John 2:1-2].
Jesus honours this wedding with His presence, and later adds to the celebration with the miraculous gift of wine.
We are also called to the marriage covenant, to celebrate the gift of marital love that God has graced us with.
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. [Hebrews 13:4]
As we read this poem, reflect on your own marriage relationship, or if you are single on your ideas about marriage.
And by way of extension, reflect on how God loves you like the perfect partner, and consider how you love Him in return.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for being the perfect partner, and for providing Valerie as my marriage partner. May the Song of Solomon remind me to celebrate our love as well.